Bullet
by bionic4ever
Summary: TEM8: Oscar has not been himself, but the reason is more sinister than Jaime and Steve can imagine. Can they help him and still avoid The Bullet? Special thanks to Julie!
1. Chapter 1

**Bullet**

Chapter One

A bullet, depending on its intentions, can accomplish many things. It can keep peace – or destroy it. It can protect the ones you love – or annihilate them. It can end a life or simply open a whole new chapter. Unpredictable, yet predictably effective, and once it was been utilized it can never be called back.

--

"How do you _do _that?" Steve marveled as Jaime seemed to flit through the kitchen at 90 miles per hour without any use of her bionics.

"Do what?" Her right hand squeezed droplets of formula onto her left wrist to test the temperature while her left hand stirred a large pot of spaghetti sauce. She had just finished her third round of 'Teddy Bear Picnic' (keeping Jenna entertained and Adam quietly enthralled) and reached with her elbow to shut off the cassette player. Jaime used her hip to rock Adam's infant seat then – in one perfectly efficient motion – she turned down the stove burner, covered the pot and wiped the splatters from the counter before sweeping the baby into her arms. Her free hand swung a plate of cookies onto the table along with a mug of milk for Jenna and coffee for Steve before Jaime finally sank down into a chair beside him, smiling happily.

"Teach me?" Steve requested, his mouth full of fresh-baked cookie.

"Sorry, Austin; it's hormonal. I think you're outta luck."

"Well, I bow to your expertise," he said with a flourish of his arm. "Oh – Rudy called while you were giving Adam his bath."

Immediately, Jaime and Steve fell into their own personal shorthand/code-speak. Bionics and the OSI were topics they absolutely refused to discuss around their children, and so they were well-rehearsed at imparting necessary information while saying nothing much at all.

"Assignment?" Jaime asked.

"No. Needs to talk to you."

"Sick?"

"No. Nothing like that."

"Serious?" Jaime wondered.

"Maybe. A decision – yours."

"Later?"

Steve nodded. "We'll talk." He smiled reassuringly to let her know no one was dying and then reached for another cookie.

"Yum!" Jenna affirmed, her arm fully extended but not quite reaching the plate. She gave her Daddy her sweetest face (since it would never work on Mommy). "Cookie...pweese?"

"Better ask Mommy, Bug," Steve hedged. "...Mommy?"

Jaime sighed. "You're worse than she is. OK – one more cookie and then nap for you, Young Lady." She looked at Steve, who was on his third or fourth cookie, and grinned. "When did we become such grown-up old fogies?"

"I think having the second kid does it."

Half an hour later, Adam had been fed, burped and re-diapered and both children were sound asleep. Steve had coffee waiting for Jaime when she joined him in the den.

"So what's the bad news?" she asked immediately.

"It's not bad, really," Steve explained. "Rudy was talking to Oscar -"

"About me?"

"Yes, about you, and they had an idea they wanted me to run past you."

"So far, I'm not liking this. Why do they need you to run interference?"

"Just listen before you go all 'Jaime' on me, ok?" Steve took a deep breath and braced himself for a firestorm. "What if, instead of turning your bionics back up, they left you the way you are now?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"Jaime, we have two kids now, and -"

"They wanna put me out to pasture?"

"They feel you've earned a peaceful retirement. I know you're tired of that life, and -"

"And nothing!" Jaime was on her feet and already on a furious roll. "You have the same two kids that I do! Are they gonna tune you down, too?"

"No...but -"

"Yeah, I'm tired of that life but it's who I am. It's who **we **are, Steve! And Adam and Jenna, just by virtue of being our kids, could be targets at any time. I have to be able to defend them, if it comes down to that! No way!" She paused, suddenly frightened. "It...is _my _decision...isn't it?"

"I'm not sure," Steve admitted. "They wanted me to talk to you about it, and we're supposed to meet with both of them after your check up tomorrow."

"They can't do this!" she protested, knowing in her heart that if they chose to, of course they could.

--

No matter how firm a decision might be, or how solid the reasoning behind it, sometimes a bullet can change anyone's mind.

--


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

A bullet often lies in wait for the moment when its destructive potential can be maximized. A verbal bullet, especially when the victim is blindsided, can be shattering in its devastation with equal impossibility of repairing the damage.

--

Rudy shook his head, his brow furrowed with concern. He finished writing Jaime's stats in her file and turned to the Austins, who were waiting anxiously. "To put it bluntly," he explained, his eyes soft and kind, "your blood pressure is much too high and your vital signs in general are not what I'd hoped to see at this point."

"She didn't sleep last night," Steve added. He gave Jaime's hand a gentle squeeze. "She's been doing really well, but -"

"But this meeting today is like a kick in the teeth," Jaime finished for herself, leaning into her husband's waiting arms.

"Rudy," Steve began slowly, "you know how much I'd like to see Jaime retire from 'government service' – for good – but not like this."

Jaime sighed, pausing to rein in her emotions. "Why would you and Oscar think -"

"I had nothing to do with this, Honey," Rudy said quietly. "They asked me for a report on your condition, and that's the extent of my involvement. To be honest, with the shape you're in right now I can't in good conscience advise that you be returned to full strength, but I don't mean that you should stay tuned down forever. Another month or so, and -"

Jaime frowned. "Wait a minute. Who are 'they'? Did 'they' order this little check up?"

"Honey, all I know is that Oscar brought the suggestion to me a few days ago, and -"

"A few days!"

"And I told him you'd never agree to it and I didn't think Steve would either."

"You're right," Steve affirmed. "I wouldn't. But the only one who should be deciding this is Jaime."

Rudy nodded. "Agreed. When I told him I didn't like it, Oscar came down here the next morning and told me to call you in for an immediate check-up, that he needed a current report on your health for a meeting -"

"With _who?" _Jaime demanded.

"I don't know, but I told him the only way I'd do that would be if the three of us could attend the meeting. You were originally supposed to be kept in the dark until the decision was made."

"That doesn't sound like Oscar," Steve protested.

"It's not my place to say this, but I think he's under orders himself right now," Rudy agreed. He stood up and placed a warm hand on each Austin's shoulder. "We'll find out soon enough; we're due upstairs in five minutes."

Jaime clung tightly to Steve's side as they waited for the express elevator. They nodded a polite but sleepy 'good morning' to the Secretary and three men in penguin suits who were stepping off as they got on. Steve wished he had the words to comfort his wife, but in truth he was even more worried than she was. Something didn't feel right; something was definitely 'off'.

Oscar barely looked up and was unable to meet anyone's eyes as his three friends took their seats in front of the desk. Steve couldn't help noticing that they were the only people present and he instantly made the connection. "You've already had the meeting...without us," he stated, his anger just barely contained. "Oscar, what the hell is going on? Why are you letting them pull your strings?"

"How's our girl doing, Rudy?" Oscar asked in a flat, dispirited voice.

"Why don't you ask her, since she's sitting right here?" Jaime snapped, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. "I have a 2-year-old and a new baby at home Oscar; how do you think I feel? Exhausted, cranky and restless – and that was before I found out you wanna put me out to pasture!"

Oscar took a deep, steadying breath. "Babe, you've been officially retired from all government duties. You deserve to spend time with your family. Your children need you, and you've earned it."

"Did anyone think to ask me how I feel about this?" Jaime said bitterly. "Yeah, time off would be great, but let's not cut our throats here. You never know when you might need me again. And I need to be able to defend myself – and my kids! How about if we -"

Oscar stared intently at his desktop. "Non-negotiable, Jaime. This is how it's going to be. I'm sorry."

Jaime gasped at the cold, impersonal tone of his voice and choked back a tiny sob. Steve was instantly on his feet. "If we go out and come back in," he seethed, "will you come to your senses and start acting like Oscar Goldman again?" He shook his head in disbelief, having to force himself not to swing at the man. "You know what? Never mind." He took Jaime's hand. "Let's go home, Sweetheart. If and when he comes out of his emotional coma, he knows where to find us."

Rudy gave his friend and colleague behind the desk a disapproving glare of his own before following the Austins out of the office.

Oscar sat alone, staring blankly, until the elevator was long gone before the datacom on his belt crackled to life. "You've done well," a disembodied voice chuckled. "I need you to return now; we require your...assistance...with your human counterpart."

--


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Steve watched Jaime carefully as he drove and in the half hour it took to reach Lynda's house to pick up the kids, Jaime went from tearful and shaky, through quiet rage and into stoic resolution without uttering a word. He didn't push; Steve knew she would talk about it when she was ready (and not one minute sooner).

She became instantly animated, chattering happily, once the kids were in the car, but Steve could see in her eyes that Jaime was still feeling the force of the blow their boss and friend had dealt them. Later, when she let her guard down and they could really talk, he had a feeling the grief would be overwhelming.

--

The threat of a bullet, with its promise of physical or emotional death, can be even more daunting than its actual use. Pain, or the threat of pain, is a very powerful persuader.

--

Oscar's eyes opened with excruciating slowness; he found the light (although dim) caused intense pain. The last thing he remembered, he was getting ready to go home for the night and was waiting for the elevator and then...nothing. He had no idea how much time might've passed, but somehow he guessed he'd been out for a very long time. He was sitting upright on a metal cot, propped in a corner against a cold, cement wall.

The room was tiny – the size of a small jail cell – and when he swung his legs over the side of the cot to face his captor, Oscar's breath caught in his throat and his ultimate nightmares came flooding back in vivid Technicolor. The face that stared back at him...was his own. The cell door was open and the faux-Oscar made no move to rise or prevent Oscar from leaving. He merely stared. "Do not attempt to leave," he said in a flattened but well-mimicked version of Oscar's own voice. "It will only cause your death to be that much more painful. You cannot win."

Shocked (and not yet fully conscious), Oscar sat back on the cot and waited. Within minutes, they were joined by a man with an ominous grin and a face Oscar thought he'd never have to see again.

"Surprise, Oscar!" the man taunted.

"Chester...Dolenz...?" Oscar muttered. "I put you in prison myself."

"That's where you're wrong. Oh, you put good old Chester away – that part, you got right – but my name is Jeffrey Dolenz."

"That's impossible!" Oscar protested.

"You thought Chester was my nickname, didn't you? Wrong! Chester is my less intelligent, less talented but fortunately still identical brother. I did the research, built the robots and reaped the rewards while he agreed to be my public face for a pittance. Pennies, really. Like I said, he was not the smart one." Dolenz threw his head back in a fit of maniacal laughter and, infuriated, Oscar charged toward him.

The robot was on him in less than a second, tossing Oscar back onto the cot like a discarded toy. Before Oscar's head had stopped spinning, his arms were secured behind his back and then tied to the bed frame and he sank back against the corner, momentarily defeated.

--

"A-tum!" Jenna giggled, tickling the baby's toes while Jaime rocked in the big old chair with Jenna in her lap and Adam in the crook of her arm. "A-tum, play!"

"Soon, Sweetie," Jaime promised, smiling, "when he's just a little bit bigger. Then he'll play with you."

"That's strange," Steve remarked, returning from the phone in the kitchen. "When Leslie came back from lunch, the office was empty. No note and he had no appointments. He's still not back, and it's almost 7:00."

"Maybe he's out looking for his soul," Jaime suggested bitterly.

"Jaime -"

"Sorry."

"Bug, I've got your snack on the table, if you're hungry. It's ice cream," Steve told their daughter. She was off at near-bionic speed. Steve reached out and took Adam from Jaime's arms. "I'll put him down, and tuck Jenna in when she's done, and then we can talk, okay?"

Jaime nodded mutely. When Steve returned, he brought her a cup of tea and two warm, loving arms that she sank into gratefully, burying her head in his chest and finally allowing herself to cry.

--

Oscar passed in and out of awareness for the rest of the night, courtesy of a needle that had been jabbed into his arm. The cell door had been left open even though there was no guard. Strong-arms were not needed; Oscar would not be going anywhere.

Upstairs, in a lavishly furnished den, Jeffrey puffed contentedly on his imported cigar and downed his third glass of well-aged fine scotch. Everything was going exactly the way he had planned and more smoothly than he'd dared to hope. Very soon, the entire Cyborg Project would be a rusted, antiquated thing of the past, his robots would be recognized as the superior product that they were and respect and (legitimate) good fortune would finally be his.

Smiling all over with self-satisfaction, he removed his favorite pistol from a desk drawer and loaded it with bullets.

--


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

For nearly an hour, they sat together on the sofa, Jaime firmly enveloped in Steve's arms as she trembled, sobbed and raged the morning's indignities out of her system. Steve held her close, saying very little himself and tenderly rubbing her back as the pain poured out.

"How could he do this?" Jaime whispered, when her cries finally quieted and she could catch her breath again. "Why?"

Steve brushed the last tears from her eyes and kissed her softly. "I'm going in to talk to him in the morning," he promised. "See if I can't get him to change his mind."

"He was so cold, Steve – so awful! Oscar can be a real hard-ass sometimes, but he's never been...cruel before." Jaime leaned her head onto Steve's broad shoulder and sighed. "I hate to say it, but...he scared me."

--

A bullet is at its coldest, cruelest moment when it lies in wait, deep in a shadow, at the very last second that its intended victim is still blissfully unaware of its presence.

--

"I hear something outside," Jaime said, sniffling a bit as she got up to move toward the window.

Steve grabbed her arm. "I'll look," he insisted, holding her back and stepping in front of her. He heard it, too – a rustling, leaves-crunching-underfoot sound, directly outside the window. "Call Russ," he said, very quietly. Jaime reached for the phone and Steve pulled back the curtain. Jaime's back was turned, but in one terrible instant she heard three things almost simultaneously: the echo of a gunshot, the shattering of the window...and Steve hitting the floor.

--

When Dolenz returned, the robot wasn't with him and Oscar let his eyes drift closed, feigning sleep even though the drug had worn off and his every nerve cell was wide awake. His only hope was that his captor would step close enough to the cot to allow him one good, bionic kick. Dolenz probably didn't know about Oscar's legs, so it was Oscar's one ace in the hole.

"It's almost over," Dolenz said, laughing. Oscar didn't move. "Your only powered-up cyborg is dead." _That _got Oscar's attention and his eyes flew open before he could stop them. "That's right," the madman taunted, "I shot him myself – saw him go down, too. One de-activated for good and the other one dead. Just one more execution to go – not counting yours, of course."

Oscar's mind raced. Was Steve really dead? It didn't sound like Dolenz intended to kill Jaime, so who was left? Oh, God – _Rudy_. He glared silently and stone-faced at his tormentor, unwilling to give him any further satisfaction.

"You're a smart man, Oscar. I know you've figured it out. With no one around to patch up your tin toy or re-activate the other one, it's all over." He leaned close to Oscar's face, taunting him with the gun.

It was the break Oscar needed. He braced his body against the wall, pushing out with his bound hands for leverage as he planted both feet solidly in the center of the madman's chest. Dolenz dropped to the floor immediately and didn't move. The gun had flown out of his hand and into the hallway, where Oscar couldn't reach it, but he was able to use his feet to slide his attacker's prone body under the cot.

Oscar was safe for the moment, but he knew he was still trapped. His legs would be no help in getting his arms free and the cot was too heavy to drag behind him. He was stuck in a room with a crazed scientist (who might or might not be dead) and somewhere out there was a robot bent on killing Rudy unless it was either stopped or somehow instructed to stand down. And if what Dolenz said was true, neither Steve nor Jaime would be able to help.

--

A bullet that has done its work effectively has the distinction of remaining blameless as fault shifts to the attacker. When a gun is discharged and the bullet performs its terrible duty, it becomes merely an inert piece of metal, Pain, destruction and death point to a human as their source and never to the bullet.

--


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

For Oscar, time was passing in ultra-slow-motion but for Jaime, things had happened far too fast. She fought back the urge to scream (for the kids' sake) and swallowed her panic so she could help Steve. In an amazingly calm voice, she relayed to Russ that Steve had been shot before hanging up the phone and kneeling at her husband's side.

"Jaime..." Steve mumbled, blood pouring out of a wound in his upper chest. "The kids..."

"They're alright – they...aren't crying. I'll check on them soon. Steve..." She brushed away her tears with a fierce swipe of her hand. She wanted to move him into the windowless guest bedroom, but knew she'd be unable to lift him. Luckily, the gunman's footsteps had receded quickly, right after the shot.

"Check the kids," Steve insisted. "Please..."

As fast as she could humanly go, Jaime ran down the hall and looked in on both children. Adam was sound asleep and Jenna turned over restlessly, whining a bit but she was soon sleeping quietly, too. "They're fine," Jaime confirmed, returning to the den. "They're safe and asleep."

"Jaime, listen." His voice was growing faint, but Steve struggled to stay focused. "I...saw him...Dolenz."

"Who?"

"Be careful, Sweetheart...Oscar's...not -" Steve's strength was gone; he could say no more. Jaime grabbed a throw pillow from the sofa and pressed it gently but firmly to Steve's chest, praying silently to herself for what seemed like an eternity until help began to arrive. Jaime heard the Medivac touch down in the backyard while cars began screeching up the driveway. Rudy and the medics rushed in through the kitchen and the front door burst open with the arrival of half a dozen penguin suits...and Oscar.

--

In his tiny cell, Oscar struggled to free himself from the ropes binding him to the cot, but the knots were too tight. Dolenz, still lying prone on the floor beneath him, had not moved. Had he told Oscar the truth – was Steve really dead – or was the scientist playing a sick mind game to wear him down? What about Jaime and the children? Were they safe? With renewed determination, Oscar kept working at the unyielding knots. He had to get loose, before the Oscar-bot found Rudy!

--

The medics wasted no time in lifting Steve onto a gurney. Lynda, who had arrived seconds after the penguins, hugged Jaime as Rudy worked to stabilize her husband for transport. "I'll stay with the babies," the nurse offered. "As long as you need me to." Jaime, stifling another sob, nodded her thanks and hugged her friend harder.

"I'd like to be on the chopper," 'Oscar' told Rudy, stepping closer to the gurney.

"I'm sorry," the doctor replied. "With the gurney and the medics, there's only room for Jaime; you'll have to meet us at National."

"I'll ride up by the pilot," he persisted.

"There's just no room. Besides, you have an investigation going on here," Rudy reminded his colleague. He gave him a curious, penetrating glance but turned quickly back to his patient. "Jaime," he called, "we have to leave now."

Once aboard the Medivac, Rudy started an IV to immediately begin replacing the blood that Steve was still losing. After a few adjustments and a double check of everything, he turned to Jaime. "The blood isn't frothy, so the bullet missed his lung, but it may have hit an artery. It's serious, but I have a medical team waiting in the OR; they should be able to patch it if the damage isn't too severe."

Jaime nodded absently. Her mind was racing. Surgery to save Steve...even if it succeeded, were they safe?

--

Rudy was shocked to find 'Oscar' had somehow beat them to National and was waiting just inside the emergency entrance. "We need to talk," 'Oscar' demanded. "Let's go down to your office."

"Get out of the way!" the doctor stormed, not bothering with civility when his patient's life was at stake.

"I'll wait for you there," 'Oscar' insisted in a flat, no-nonsense voice. He barely glanced at Jaime before heading off down the hall.

Rudy wrapped a protective arm around Jaime's shoulders. Jaime shook her head in shocked disbelief. They both knew something was drastically wrong, but saving Steve had to come first. "Should I...wait in your office, too?"

Rudy scrambled for an alternative; sending her down there just didn't feel right. Thankfully, Russ ran down the hall from the front entrance and made the decision much easier. "Russ, I need you to take Jaime to the nurses' lounge and stay with her there until I come to get her," the doctor instructed. "Lock the door and don't let anyone else in – no matter who it is. Nobody."

--

A bullet, in whatever form it takes – verbal, ammunition or even a strong homicidal blow – has one common element at its very core: the threat of imminent, irrevocable harm.

--


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Jaime was too exhausted to pace but too nervous to sit quietly. "Russ, who is 'Dolenz'?" she asked, after finding where the nurses hid supplies for their coffee machine.

"Dolenz?" Russ frowned. "Chester Dolenz?"

"I don't know. All Steve said was Dolenz – that he saw him. That was who shot him."

"That's impossible. Chester Dolenz is in a maximum security Federal prison. He's not going anywhere." He shrugged. "I don't know what Steve thinks he saw, but...did you tell Oscar?"

"No." Jaime buried her head in her hands. _What's a tactful way to say I think our boss has lost his mind?_ She needn't have worried.

"There's something strange about him lately," Russ ventured.

"You noticed it, too?"

"That's why I haven't gone back to L.A.; I'm worried about him, Jaime."

"Me too, but I'm not sure if I wanna help him or give him a good, swift kick..."

Jaime had just started the second pot of coffee brewing when Rudy knocked softly on the lounge door before opening it with his key. "Rudy...?" Jaime asked quietly.

"The bullet tore through several arteries before lodging in a major one. We removed it and repaired the damage – but Steve's system had already begun shutting down. Now we have to wait and see if we got to him in time. He's stable, but he's critical."

Jaime nodded stoically. Russ squeezed her hand. "I'll find out anything I can," he promised, "and you keep me posted too, alright?"

"Thanks, Russ." She followed him to the doorway and closed the door behind him. "Rudy, I need you to turn my bionics back to full power. Now – tonight."

"That's impossible; you're only three weeks postpartum and without any authorization, I can't simply take it upon myself -"

"Whoever shot Steve is out there and you know they'll be back. Steve can't defend himself and I – I just don't trust Oscar."

"You want me to go behind his back?"

"If that's really Oscar. We have to do something! Please, Rudy. There really is no other choice."

"Honey, I'm not sure if your body can physically support full bionic strength. It's just too risky."

"Well, I can't just sit here and wait while whoever this is decides if he's going after Steve or me...or our kids! I'm gonna go after him, either way."

"You don't even know who 'him' is!" Rudy argued.

"I'll find out somehow. This is my _family_, Rudy! Now, I can either go out there 'as-is' and hope for the best, or I can go with the advantages only you can give me." Jaime paused, taking a huge gulp of air. "Will you help me – please?"

Rudy eyed her closely, head to toe, as he thought it over. She was very pale and just a little shaky but her eyes were tear-free and her face firmly resolute. She meant it – she really intended to go after the gunman even if he told her no, so Rudy knew he had to at least allow her a fighting chance.

--

A bullet's damage lingers with the pain causing a ripple effect through the lives of anyone within striking distance, severing relationships and altering lives forever.

--

Russ kept an eye on 'Oscar' (from a distance) while Rudy snuck Jaime into a private room on the other side of the hospital and gathered the necessary equipment. He chose to work alone, since Jaime had insisted on remaining conscious for the procedure so she could be up and at it immediately after they were through.

"I'd feel a lot better about this if I could at least keep you here overnight," Rudy said as he completed the last circuit. "Run a few tests and then -"

"Yeah, but we don't have that luxury," Jaime reminded him, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and standing up.

"Take it easy," the doctor insisted. "At least take a few minutes to adjust. I'll go and let Russ know we're done and then check you over one more time, just to be sure, okay?"

"Alright," Jaime sighed, settling back onto the bed. She did feel a little strange. It might be good to rest. She had almost drifted off to sleep when Rudy's choking cry from the hallway woke every cell in her body.

"Jaime, get out of here! Run!"

She knew he wanted her to double back out of the room through the lab and get away, but (being Jaime, after all) she stepped into the hallway. 'Oscar' was holding Rudy in a death-grip, one arm tightly wrapped across his neck, cutting off his air. The doctor was struggling, his kicks having no effect as 'Oscar' effortlessly jerked him off his feet and waved him around like a rag doll, all the while not allowing him to breathe.

Jaime forced her right hand between Rudy's neck and the Oscar-bot's arm. God, he was strong! She planted her feet on top of Oscar's feet and pulled back on his arm with everything she had, forcing just enough of a gap for Rudy to slump to the floor. Instantly, 'Oscar' snaked his other arm around her waist, pressing Jaime's arms to her side and virtually immobilizing her. It was clear he was much stronger than she was, but if she didn't stand a chance she at least wanted the doctor out of harm's way.

"Rudy – get Russ!" she gasped. "Hurry!"

--


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Jaime sucked in her stomach and took tiny, shallow breaths, trying to skinny her way out of the monster's grasp, but he held her firmly, several inches off the ground. She had no leverage for a good, strong kick and couldn't move her upper body at all – and 'Oscar' still had one arm free! Jaime pushed out with all the strength her right arm could muster but it wasn't nearly enough. Up close, this Oscar's eyes were steel-cold and soulless and Jaime came to the sickening realization that he was not human. She was trapped. She went limp in his arms, trying to trick him, but a robot programmed only for destruction (like a bullet) has no powers of reasoning and this one was single-minded in its purpose.

Jaime's eyes closed, and she saw her children's faces. They were so young; they needed her. She couldn't just give up! Frantically, she began swinging her legs back and forth, hoping to twist away from him, but his hold only tightened until it was hard for her to breathe. The Oscar-bot stared sightlessly at his prey and with his free hand he grabbed Jaime's hair, twisting it around his powerful fingers and yanking her head backwards as he prepared to snap her neck.

Suddenly, a strong blast of icy water slammed into them with enough force to knock a human off their feet. 'Oscar' remained standing, still holding Jaime in its death-grip as he turned toward the distraction. Jaime could only look from the corner of her eye, but there was Rudy in the door of his lab with a fire hose in his hands, blasting them full force. The robot gave an inhuman growl of rage and spun toward the doctor, squeezing Jaime so painfully that she thought she would split in two.

A gunshot rang out from the end of the hallway and Jaime fell to the floor as the robot stiffened and turned instantly into a hulking heap of useless metal. Rudy turned off the hose and rushed to Jaime's side, quickly pulling her away from the sparking robot in the puddle of water. Now that the danger had passed and everyone was safe, she was out cold.

"Great shot," he told Russ, who joined them with his gun still at the ready. With striking accuracy, he had taken the only chance they had and fired into the back of the robot's neck, knocking out its power source just in time. Smoke rose from the fallen death machine, signaling the effectiveness of the bullet.

--

Russ studied the robot's transmission system while Rudy tended to Jaime. It was more sophisticated by far than any radio transmitter he'd ever seen, but he guessed that the principle had to be very similar. Given time, he could trace back to the receiver himself, but he knew Oscar probably didn't have time to wait. Russ did what any top level Intelligence person would do; he called in the experts. His team was able to ascertain the receiver's location within minutes, and soon a fleet of penguin-filled cars (with Russ in the lead car, of course) were speeding toward the site.

Rudy worked quickly but thoroughly over his fallen patient. Jaime was past pale; her skin was a deathly shade of bluish-white, but her breathing gradually slowed from ragged gasps to a lighter, more normal rhythm and oxygen was slowly bringing her color back to normal. She had been very lucky; her left arm had been wedged in the crook of the robot's arm and although badly bruised, it wasn't broken. There appeared to be no internal bleeding and X-rays would confirm that her worst injury was several cracked ribs. Rudy gave her a sedative and got her settled into bed in the ICU cubicle next to Steve's, then finally sank wearily into a chair between them to keep watch over his two patients through the rest of the night.

--

A bullet is doubtless one of the strongest forces on the planet. You cannot argue with it, run from it or negate its effects with reason. However, a bullet fired with life-saving intentions can be the most powerful entity of all.

--


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Oscar had just about decided to run, dragging the cot behind him – he had the strength in his legs to pull it off but would probably break both of his arms for the effort – but it turned out to be a decision he didn't have to make. When the robot went down, a piercingly loud alarm began to squall on the device hidden in Dolenz' jacket pocket and the sound was sharp enough to rouse the injured man.

Dolenz sat up with a start, or tried to, banging his head hard on the bottom of the cot. "My robot!" he growled. "They have destroyed my prize robot – the prototype! My greatest work!" The intense, steady alarm turned into sharply punctuated _beeps _and Dolenz cursed wildly as he rolled out onto the open floor. He shut the ear-splitting noise off and glared at Oscar from a safe distance (out of kicking range). "They are tampering with my creation. If they are any good they will be here soon. No matter; they will find quite a welcoming committee."

He sneered contemptuously and pressed a button on the side of the device. Oscar's hope faded away when two figures appeared in the doorway: an exact duplicate of the Oscar-bot and...Jaime. She'd been unable to fight off an attack and had been captured as well. When she picked up the gun from the hallway and handed it to Dolenz, Oscar realized his mistake. This Jaime was a robot, too.

"Watch him," the madman instructed his creations. He stepped out of the room and returned quickly with a large syringe which he injected into Oscar's thigh. Oscar waited for the couple of minutes it would've taken for the drug to reach his bloodstream, then closed his eyes and went limp. "Put him in the truck and secure him," Dolenz ordered, "then return to me immediately." As he watched his creations carry the 'unconscious' captive out of the cell, Dolenz reached into his pocket for spare bullets and made certain his gun was fully loaded.

--

Less than an hour after being settled into bed (and in spite of heavy sedation), Jaime began to stir. Her head tossed back and forth on the pillow as though she was dreaming and she suddenly sat bolt upright in bed.

"Easy, Honey," Rudy said softly, trying to get her back into a prone position. "You need to rest."

"Where's Oscar?" Jaime asked, her voice trembling. "That...thing...wasn't Oscar. He's in trouble, Rudy – I have to find him!"

"You'll do no such thing, Young Lady," the doctor insisted. "Russ and his teams are on their way to get Oscar back. You need to rest; you took a pretty strong beating today."

Jaime leaned back into her pillow without relaxing in the least. Her eyes fully focused now, she finally saw Steve lying in the next bed. "How is he Rudy?" Her voice pleaded for good news.

"Still no change. But he's holding on, and that's a very good sign."

"You didn't...tune me down again, did you?" Jaime asked.

Rudy saw where she was going with that, and he didn't like it. "No, I didn't – because your body has had more than enough stress for one day. We'll play it by ear, but I don't want you leaving this bed for at least 24 hours. Is that clear?" Jaime didn't answer, and Rudy could almost see the wheels turning in her head. "Jaime – doctor's orders! I want you to close your eyes; thank you. I'll be right here to make sure you stay put." He settled back into his chair and gave her the sternest look he could muster. Jaime sighed and closed her eyes...but sleep was impossible.

--

Russ and his men surrounded the small building and advanced with their guns drawn. Russ himself headed up the main sidewalk toward the front entrance and was almost there when the door opened and Jeffrey Dolenz stepped outside, one hand bearing his own weapon in firing position and the other dragging 'Oscar' and 'Jaime' behind him. He had re-dressed the Jaime-bot in a hospital gown, as though she'd been snatched directly from her ICU bed. She and 'Oscar' stood back to back, with their wrists cuffed to each other and blindfolds over their eyes. Russ immediately froze in his tracks and his men followed suit.

"Not another step, Mr. Second-in-Command," Dolenz growled.

--

Multiple bullets – the primordial battle between good and evil – can cause irreparable damage to both sides. There are no winners.

--


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

There was no time to call in experts or carefully ponder the possibilities. "Hold your fire," Russ ordered into the datacom.

"Good choice," Dolenz taunting, smirking at him. He glanced at his robot-hostages. They were first generation experiments, not nearly as sophisticated as later models, but certainly able to pass for the real Jaime Sommers and Oscar Goldman. Wouldn't really bother him to see them destroyed, but would Mark Russell dare to risk losing his 'friends' in a hailstorm of bullets? This little mind game bought him time – and something else: could he make the OSI's top guns believe they had killed their own Director?

The real Oscar's thoughts were not for his own safety or self-preservation. The appearance of a Jaime-bot told him that Dolenz meant to include her in whatever his horrific plans might be. The idea of that madman snatching her away from her husband and children was more than Oscar could bear and it gave him strength and determination enough to keep on fighting. The thick ropes that bound his legs were easy enough for him to break, but he still had no way to free his hands. Fortunately, the death-bots had simply tied him securely and tossed him on the floor in the back of the truck, so once he rose to his feet he was able to kick open the back doors and jump out.

The penguins who had surrounded the back entrance were immediately upon him. They were understandably suspicious, grabbing him at gunpoint, until Oscar gave them the emergency codes that were known only to him. Although weak from his own ordeal, while the men untied him, Oscar convinced them not to radio the news to Russ. He had no idea what Dolenz was doing out front (and knew he had no chance against the robots), but Oscar had a plan of his own.

--

The monitor that sounded an alarm in the middle of the night was not Steve's; it was Jaime's. Not realizing exactly what the wire was, she had disconnected it, intending to slip out at the first opportunity, but was betrayed when the machine no longer registered her heartbeat. Rudy rose from his chair and stood at her bedside, hands on his hips, with both eyebrows raised. No words were necessary; thoroughly chastised, Jaime sighed and moved back under the blanket.

"What's going on?" a voice asked weakly from just a few feet away. The monitor, although a false alarm, had achieved a small miracle – Steve was awake. "...Jaime?" he whispered.

There was no way Rudy was keeping her in bed now! Jaime practically dove across the space between the beds, covering her husband's face with kisses. "I was so worried about you!" she cried happily.

Steve saw that she, too, wore a hospital gown. "Are you...alright? What happened?"

"Just a little run-in with a tin toy; nothing serious."

"Jaime...!"

Rudy hated to break up such a joyful, well-deserved reunion, but these were his patients – and this _was _an ICU. "You both need to rest now," he insisted, already checking Steve's vital signs and re-assessing his much-improved condition.

"Where's Oscar?" Steve queried when Jaime had reluctantly returned to her own bed.

"Talk later," Rudy told him. "Rest now." He hoped that before morning came, there might be some better news about their friend.

--

"What do you want, Dolenz?" Russ demanded in a calm, steady voice.

The madman laughed. "I have everything I could possibly want or need already. You, my friend, are going to let me leave here safely to enjoy the fruits of my labors. Maybe your government will never see fit to employ me – or my creations – now, but I can live with that. I'm about to come into more money than I'll ever be able to spend, and once I leave here, you goons will never find a trace of me. Maybe I'll turn these two loose when I get where I'm going. Haven't quite decided yet, but -"

"I won't let you take them," Russ said firmly. 'Oscar' and 'Jaime' had not moved, but were standing stock-still, tied together directly outside the double entryway doors. A sharpshooter could probably take Dolenz out, but if was a huge risk. There had to be another way...

Without warning, the front doors burst open with force strong enough to shatter them. The real Oscar sent the linked robots crashing into the mad scientist with one well-placed bionic kick, then looked up with a humble, slightly bemused grin. "Well, what are we waiting for?" he quipped. "Let's go home."

--

The best bullet of all is often the one that is not needed.

--


	10. Epilogue

Epilogue

Oscar tried for his sternest _I'm in charge_ face as he sat across from Steve and Jaime in the hospital day room. "What you did was highly insubordinate, on so many levels," he began. "Going over my head and -"

"But you weren't really you!" Jaime protested.

"Nonetheless, you disobeyed a direct order. And, Mrs. Austin, you ignored your doctor's instructions when he told you to run – and for that I'm afraid I'll have to see to it -" Oscar could no longer stifle the grin, "that you get a special commendation."

Steve smiled, too, and pulled his wife a little closer to his temporary wheelchair. "I'm mighty proud of her, too."

"Doc tells me you're headed home tomorrow," Oscar continued, "but a little bird told me a couple of very special someones couldn't wait that long." He looked toward the day room door, where Lynda appeared, carrying Adam and attempting to hold Jenna by the hand. The little girl saw her family and (with a little bit of her mother's independence) broke away.

"Unca Okka!" she crowed, rushing to embrace him.

Lynda placed the baby gently into his mother's waiting arms and Steve reached over to grip Adam's tiny fist in his hand. "Good to see you, Buddy," he said softly, his voice choking with emotion. Jenna moved from Oscar's bear hug into Steve's lap and giggled as she kissed his cheek and settled into his arms.

"That is one beautiful family," Oscar told Lynda happily.

"You're both a part of this family too, you know," Jaime reminded them.

Oscar beamed. "I hope you'll always feel that way, Babe."

"Oh, definitely. And I have the perfect family bonding activity," Jaime said, flashing a mischievous grin as she extended the baby toward Oscar. "Diaper duty, just for you!"

END


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